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It's a good story. It was summer of 1962 and I was a 5 years old boy. My dad took me to a small airfield and paid for a ride on a red & white Pa-20 Pacer. At that time I didn't know what kind of plane it was, but some details of the cockpit are still in my mind. Some years ago I traced that plane – the only Italian Pacer – and I discovered that she was owned by a classic plane collector in L'Aquila (less than two hours by car from Rome). The plane, built in 1952, was still flying and used for glider towing. I got in touch with the owner that confirmed that the Pacer was in the airfield of my first flight in the early '60s and invited my to fly her. A few days after I was in Turin's airport boarding a jetliner heading to Rome. I could fly that plane and I was the happiest man on Earth.

First flight at KFIT (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) in June 1961 with Ernie "Red" Sparks, former B-17 pilot during WW2. I was eleven years old, hanging around KFIT FBO ("Golden Wings") and making a nuisance of myself. Ernie gave me a job sweeping the floor, cutting grass and vacuuming transient aircraft -- man, I loved that vacuuming! "Red" would take me up at the end of the day, over Whalom Lake in a Cessna 150 -- don't know mfg year. I followed him on controls, and was maneuvering on Day-3 or -4. I last spoke with Ernie in 2003 when I invited him to be my guest at 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight in Kitty Hawk, NC. He couldn't make it due to health problems, and his daughter called me to say that he passed away in February 2004. That's OK. I'm planning to fly with him again.

t was back in 1959 - I was 5 years old. My dad worked for Jeppesen & Company. He flew Jeppesen's company aircraft, an F35 Model Beech Bonanza and on one occasion on his way back home to Denver, CO from a sales trip he had to divert to Cheyenne, WY due to weather and took a commercial flight back to Denver. Early the next morning he woke me up, we boarded a DC-3, flew back up to Cheyenne - picked up the Bonanza and flew back home to Denver.

I had an intense interest in aviation since childhood, built many model airplanes, and never flown. I would ride my bicycle out to Watsonville, CA. airport and watch the planes come and go but never a ride. When I moved to San Luis Obispo and finally had a job that payed me enough money to afford an introductory flight I went for it. That first flight turned out to be in a Cessna 140 with tricycle gear. I signed up for flight lessons that day.

First ride was from the Old Town airport in 1962 in a new Piper Cherokee N5038W Dick Martin was the pilot and let me sit in the pilots seat and fly the plane for most of the 20 min flight . I was 13 at the time.

My first ride was with a friend's dad when I was 11. I remember it as a four-seat highwing, so I'm guessing it was probably a Cessna 172. We went from somewhere in the San Fernando Valley to Palm Springs. I don't remember the specifics, but I do know I fell in love with flying that day. Fast forward 39 years... I gave myself flying lessons as a 50th birthday present. In the seven years since, I have flown 1700 hours and earned my CFI this past October. Just goes to show that it is never too late to fulfill a dream.

I tried to post this last month, but I goofed somewhere and it never showed up! SOOOO try again! My first flight was in 1936 at about the age of 10. It was in a Stinson A Trimotor which was giving rides at the local Conway, PA field. I lived in Freedon, a neighboring town, and walked about 3 miles overland to get to the field, where I spent half my summers!! It cost me 50 cents, and I remember the old wicker seats, and seeing the pilot about 6 feet in front of me. When we landed, I wanted to see the wheels start spinning, so I sat with my chin on the window sill. I saw the wheel touch and start spinning, while nursing a banged chin! Shall we say, kindly, that it was NOT the pilots' best landing!! Lee Robinson W. Palm Beach.